This is getting frustrating. I have about three dealers who are within a day's drive of me. One is my regular Audi dealer, whom I have bought two Audis from already. Not one will offer anything off retail!

My regular dealer says he will offer a couple of hundreds dollars off as a courtesy...great. I do have a $500 coupon from my Audi Driving Experience, and can get another $500 from ACNA, but that looks like all I'll be getting.

I'm really getting pi**ed off, but there aren't many good alternatives out there for me. The Subarus are too tight for me, the Fusion is blah, I don't like the Cadillac CTS, don't want an AWD crossover, and don't have a convenient BMW or Acura dealer anywhere close. I may have to just grit my teeth and stay with Audi but, I'm afraid, this is not going to be a positive buying experience.

I love the car, just wish the dealers weren't so mercenary.

Don't you get a 5% discount through the European program? This would be about $2K on a $40K vehicle. Enough to pay for airline tickets and a few meals on the other side of the pond.

A totally tarted up Infiniti G(x model) -- with the 300HP engine will almost certainly be less than the Audi A4 2.0T all tarted up.

"Don't you get a 5% discount through the European program? This would be about $2K on a $40K vehicle. Enough to pay for airline tickets and a few meals on the other side of the pond."

If I didn't run my own business and had the time to do this, it would be great. Still doesn't amount to much of a savings though, when all the additional expenses are figured in.

First, it's just a car. Hardly anything worth being emotional about.

Second, why should you be entitled to name your price? Only in the car biz does this sort of demanding dealing happen.

Third, you need to wait until initial demand has been satified. Wait a year and I'll bet it will be a solid move.

Fourth, you have $1000 worth of incentives sitting on the table. That's pretty cool.

Just be happy that you like the A4 so much and that it is available immediately and without a markup like the S5/A5. If you amortize the $1,000 you would like off the car's MSRP over a few years, it will pale in comparison to the enjoyment you will get out of the car vs. the alternatives.

Also, the dealers are not really being "mercenary" - charging MSRP on a new model is not a crime, each dealer has 1 or 2 high-demand/new models that provide decent margins - those cars are the S5/A5, A4 and the R8 on a more limited basis.

Waiting 6 months for a discount might be worth it, but wouldn't you rather enjoy the car now?

BTW, what is the ACNA discount and can I qualify if I don't currently own an Audi?

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/22753/summer_2008_001_small.jpg">

you don't need to own an Audi if you're applying as a solo member, but do need to own an Audi if a member of your family is applying under your membership.

I see the exact same problem in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange County Audi dealers. All want to markup prices on the new Audi models and will not deal at all right now. Have you ever considered the new Infiniti G37 coupe? I drove it and its an amazing car and thousands less than the Audi. And it has a fast 330HP engine and amazing navigation system.

I am the type that believes better to not pay too much for any car. Wait a year or two when the new Audi car is not hot item and production increases to meet demand is another possible solution. I do see deals on the RS4 cars- dealers are trying to unload these for up to 10 grand off of MRSRP which is nice for a high performance car.

and how much is membership? I currently have a BMW and my BMWCCA membership includes a magazine - do I get any other benefits with the ACNA membership?

Can I do it over the internet - any help is appreciated.

http://www.audiclubna.org/

...so my options as far as waiting aren't there. There are other cars, including the Infiniti, that are very attractive. Unfortunately most dealers are at least two to three hours away, which makes service impractical.

My dealer is getting in some 2009 A4 demos next week, so I might take a trip down and see if he'll be a little more flexible when I'm ready to place an order.

I am looking under the membership benefits and I can't find anything about the $500 discount on car purchase after 90 days of membership - do I get a voucher or something?

Thanks in advance. :-)

I guess they have not gotten the message, about US economy and that us Americans dont have big time loot$$ these days. They act like their $hit dont stink and they have no reason to take money of the MSRP's.
Example, i have visited a few BMW dealers looking for the 1 series and out of the 3 dealers one, offered me $400 of the MSRP. What a JOKE!!
Back to you, if you have purchased 2 Audis from this dealership, YOU need to skip the saleman and go directly to the Sales manager/Owner and have a little one to one talk. Purchasing a 3rd vehicle they NEED to "take care" of you big time.
My VW/audi dealer took of $1000 off my 97 gti-vr6 and when i ordered my 99.5 Audi they took care off me and gave me $1700 off the MSRP and 4.9% financing.
Every other manufacture is offering big time cash backs or 0% financing these days. The Germans dont care&lt;i guess&gt;!! As of right now im in the market for a pick-up truck. Toyota is taking $10,000 off MSRP's on the Tundras and Im loving that!! The Truck would be used as a secong vehicle and my drive to work is 6miles. The Gas price is not my enemy.

Done ranting......

Sheesh.

Expecting any significant discount from MSRP at or near launch or the start of a new model year is simply expecting too much.

then they will be glad to get money for a car...

As much as I love the German cars from Audi and BMW, the arrogance of dealers is getting to be a bit too much for my taste. That and the Japanese have definitely learned a lot and upped their game for performance and luxury at thousands of dollars less and better reliability. Take the Nissan GT-R, it spanked Porsche and only the Audi R8 came close to beating it. That for a 75k supercar that blew away cars costing twice as much. Then the Infiniti G37 coupe nearly matches BMW and Audi for almost 10k less. I own 96' BMW 3series and while its a great car, the Bangle designs are flat out ugly on new BMW cars and the price has tripled on all Audi and BMW cars in just a few years thanks to the tanking of the US dollar. I have to ask myself, is the Audi or BMW really 10-30 thousand dollars better than that Infiniti or Lexus? Right now, I don't think so with the exception of the high end cars like the Audi S/RS models and BMW M cars.

a dealer is going to be in the position to take the customer who is willing to pay highest. If you walk out after saying "no deal," there will be someone coming in two hours later willing to pay. The dealer knows this. This now happens on Asian cars too. When Lexus introduced it's hybrids two years ago, they sold at sticker. Toyota sells Priuses (Pri-i?) at sticker. And when the Accord was all new last year, it went for sticker too. Ditto on the Camry when it was all new. So don't blame Audi. Wait a little longer and you'll get a better discount when the hype dies off.

I will wait and save. I like the S5 so thats what I want.

Well actually...isn't it already over a year old?

in september of last year.

The US likely won't have customer cars until about the same time this year.

That's what I'm gonna do! There might be a little lag in the Costco contract price setup but I can wait. Soon I will contact the Costco rep at my Audi dealer via e-mail and tell her to call me ONLY when the Costco discounts (typically $700-$1000 over invoice) are set up. I think I iron out my purchase without even wwalking in to the dealership. After getting screwed by an BMW salesman a couple of years ago, I detest dealing face to face with the typical auto sales staff. The BMW guy concealed a rebate to fatten his commission - I eventually got a check back from the sales manager after registering a complaint.

It's a $500 coupon good towards the purchase of any 2009 A4, before the end of the year.

I did the Audi Driving Experience at the Loudon track in NH.